How Temporary Staffing Agencies Place Candidates Faster with Texting

Forty eight percent of recruiting firms expect temporary placements to increase, according to Bullhorn’s 2017 North American Staffing and Recruiting Trends[1] Report. Temporary staffing demands agility throughout the recruiting cycle. You need to be prompt in responding to new candidates, checking the availability of your existing talent pool and placing work orders. You can place candidates faster with texting.

A quick communication tool, like texting, will help you get quicker responses from candidates and increase your revenue. As our client, Geneva Milne, Director of Technology, Therapy Travelers says, “We have been able to decrease our payroll processing times and increase[2] our recruitment numbers with this terrific tool.”

Benefits of texting for temporary staffing agencies

1. Meet sudden demand spikes faster.

Many industries require more personnel at certain times of the year, like retail in December, to meet the Christmas rush. Temporary staffing agencies usually need five days to find candidates, but with batch texting, you can reduce this to just one day.

2. Keep candidate quality high and increase client satisfaction.

In the rush to provide candidates to clients quickly, temporary staffing agencies often neglect quality control checks. Temporary agencies need to check whether candidates have given accurate information about their skills and experience. Texting can help you collect paperwork related to this from candidates and make it convenient for them to take relevant tests to demonstrate their skills.

3. Create a talent pool to keep candidates engaged.

Although temporary staffing is a short-term requirement, temp staffing agencies should think long-term. When you’ve worked hard to find quality candidates, you should keep the conversation going with them, so it’s easier for you to fulfil a client’s requirements when new staffing needs arise. With automated texting, you can compose messages with interview tips and schedule them to be sent at periodic intervals to keep candidates engaged.

How a temporary staffing agency placed candidates faster with texting

Top Temps, a temporary staffing agency, wanted to increase its candidate pool size and quality, so that it could meet client demands faster. It decided to try texting. Top Temps created a texting program, Know First, in which it asked candidates to sign up to be notified of jobs.

Know First was designed as an interactive dialogue so that candidates could also alert Top Temps when they were available for assignments. Top Temps advertised this program on its website to encourage opt-ins to the program and place candidates faster with texting.

After Claire, a candidate replied with this keyword, the message was automatically logged in the Top Temps CRM. Top Temps then sent a confirmation text. Next, it triggered a message that asked for Claire’s resume and identification, which she could send via MMS.

Next, Top Temps asked Claire to complete a reference release form to allow her former employer to give information to Top Temps, plus a questionnaire so that Top Temps could better understand her skills.

Based on Claire’s answers, Top Temps thought that she would be a good fit as a temporary secretary, so it asked her to take a typing test.

After Claire took the test and passed, Top Temps used texting to set up a suitable time to interview her.

Once Claire cleared the interview, Top Temps shared an orientation packet with her, which explained how the timesheet system worked, payment schedules, and other pertinent information.

Once a temporary secretary job came up, Top Temps filtered candidates with the relevant skills in their database on Friday and sent them a batch message about their availability. Claire was one of them.

After Claire got the job, Top Temps sent her automated weekly reminders to fill her timesheet every Friday evening, so that it could pay her on time.

Top Temps also sent Claire an automated follow-up message a couple of weeks after she joined, to check whether the job was as quoted by the client.

Claire was happy with her experience of working through Top Temps and continued to stay in their texting program. After her assignment was over, Top Temps sent her industry related information every two weeks, using automation.

This is just one example of how a temporary staffing agency can place candidates faster with texting, increasing both client and candidate satisfaction levels.